HOLLYWOOD -- Not to panic you or anything, but today is

Feb. 18, meaning you've got just four more days to figure out that Oscar pool ballot.

We know how handy a few extra bucks can come in, especially these days, but while the awards pundits have plenty to say about who will take home the big six (picture, director, actor/actress, supporting actor/actress), what about those other, more perplexing categories?

Things such as sound mixing or live-action short -- stuff where you would normally throw your Sharpie into the air and let the point fall where it may.

Well, we're here to help--and while we can't guarantee you'll run off with the kitty, a few handy hints should improve your Oscar night odds.

For starters, although the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards results can often predict things to come, they're not much help in those pesky technical categories.

To provide a clearer picture, you need to know who the various guilds and craft associations chose at their respective awards ceremonies.

A number of those folks also happen to be members of the motion-picture academy, and although their picks don't always go on to Oscar glory, they tend to hit more than they miss.

So here's what you need to know:

The American Society of Cinematographers went with the guy who shot Slumdog Millionaire.

The American Cinema Editors went with the guy who edited Slumdog Millionaire.

The Cinema Audio Society presented their best sound-mixing prize to Slumdog Millionaire (over the likes of The Dark Knight and Wall-E).

The Art Directors Guild went with the production designer for Slumdog Millionaire, although they divide their awards into three different divisions, with Benjamin Button claiming the period prize and The Dark Knight nabbing the fantasy prize.

Oops, never mind. Slumdog Millionaire isn't even among the five nominees for an art direction Oscar.

But you probably count on Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R. Rahman winning the best score Oscar as well as the best song prize for the ridiculously infectious Jai Ho, so catchy, in fact, that The Pussycat Dolls recently lent their voices to a remix.

So by this point you're likely thinking if you simply ticked off Slumdog in every category you'd be well on your way to the moolah.

Probably, but that wouldn't help in the animated feature category, which should be a lock for Wall-E, right?

Well, that's what we would go with, too, although at their Annie Awards ceremony, the International Animated Film Society actually gave the nod to Kung Fu Panda.

As for those confounded short film categories, we can help narrow the playing field in the live-action category, by telling you that it will likely come down to two of the five nominees.

They would be Germany's Toyland and Ireland's New Boy.

The former is a Holocaust-themed piece; the latter is a funny/stirring portrait of a nine-year-old African immigrant's first day at his Irish school and is based on a short story by Roddy (The Commitments) Doyle.

Although Holocaust stories have a history of doing well at the Oscars, our money's on New Boy. That -- and a whole mess of Jai Ho.